Tag Archives: portrait

I have some awesome BIG NEWS to share with you! My new book, Mixed Media Portraits with Pam Carriker has had it’s release date moved up and will be in-house at the North Light Shop on January 20th!!! And it’s now on sale there!!! That’s two months earlier than the original release date!!! I’m beyond excited!!! Oh and more good news is that it’s on SALEtoday at the North Light Shop-HALF OFF the cover price!!!!

The book is a nice fat 160 pages, they upped the page count to include even more instruction and eye candy. It would make a great Christmas present, just saying:-)

And if you’ve already ordered it from Amazon you’ll be getting it way earlier than the original release date, likely the first part of february rather than late March!!!

I’m giving away ONE SPOT in my Encore Presentation of Still Pursuing Portraits!!! To enter your name simply leave a comment and share this post on Facebook or your blog or to a friend or anyway that works for you! If you are already signed up for class and win, you’ll get a full refund of your tuition!! For a look at a previous post with all the class info go HERE

DRAWING WILL TAKE PLACE WEDNESDAY, JULY 10TH at 12:00pm CST. You must leave a contact email or website to be eligible.

Last years attendees had so much fun that many of them still talk portraits in a private Facebook group they started after class. I asked some of them to share their progress, thoughts, or journeys with you so you can see first hand how their work has evolved into their own personal styles and how they overcame the fear of drawing and painting faces through this workshop. What I love and strive for in teaching is to encourage people to find their own artistic voice. I put a lot of thought into how I wanted to teach a class on faces because I didn’t want to just teach how to do little carbon copies of my work, but rather to give the tools necessary to learn the how of drawing faces and encourage people to make them their own. You can see from the examples here that they did just that!

Student Work from Still Pursuing Portraits

work of Vicki Lee

Here are eight postcards (of many) that I’ve sent to other artists in an exchange. I have Pam to thank for so expertly teaching me to draw faces. I wanted to say that, before taking your class, I had no clue how to draw or paint a portrait. Since your class, I have never looked back and continue to draw and paint portraits daily. I thank you from the bottom of my heart (and all well-placed features) for teaching me these skills. You are my drawing angel.

work of Cynthia Leary-Stroo

I LOVE taking online art classes. Going to class at any hour of the day or night, wearing whatever you want to class, and sitting with your cat beside you, what’s not to like!
My art has grown by huge increments by taking these classes. While there are many teachers out there, one of my very favorite is Pam Carriker.
Her teaching skills are fantastic and she is a generous and big-hearted soul . I am proud to call her both teacher and friend.
I first encountered Pam , as a fellow classmate , in a collage class. When I heard that she was teaching online, I jumped at the chance…and have jumped several times since. I have learned in her background classes , her gray-scale class, but my favorite classes are her Portrait classes.
Pursuing Portraits and Still Pursuing Portraits are some of my favorites and by taking them, my portrait skills have moved forward.
My tips to those taking her Portrait class are to practice, practice, and practice some more. That repetition is where you will find your own style. And don’t judge your efforts ,just keep producing and with dedication to the art, you will be greatly rewarded.
A bonus of the Pursuing Portraits class was the genesis of a private Facebook group we formed with students from the class so that we could continue sharing our art work , our ideas, and keep our little community alive. We welcome future and current students of Pursuing Portraits to join us atwww.facebook.com/aboutface
Come visit my blog at www.sheshighstrung.blogspot.com

work of Christine Jermyn

“Pam …… I just wanted to write and thank you for doing the Still Pursuing Portraits class. It was my first online class and although I was somewhat nervous initially, once I got started, I enjoyed it very much. The individuality of all the artists and their portraits and the feedback, both from you and from the group, made it a very positive experience.”

The most difficult thing for me was posting my first drawing as I was very apprehensive about sharing my work online. However, with the wonderful support and encouragement from Pam and the other group members, this quickly disappeared. Pam is a great teacher and the lessons were very clear and easy to follow. I learned so much in this workshop and it gave me the confidence to continue drawing portraits on my own. I also purchased the DVD which was very helpful for review, once the workshop was finished, as I continued with my own practice.

work of M Kristin Johnsen

I’m one of those people who was told as a third grader that she couldn’t draw, so I stopped trying. So you can imagine my tenseness when Pam asked us to draw our own faces in Journal 365 a few years ago! Now she was wonderful about it all and had alternate solutions for those of us who were scared senseless – but encouraged us to take a chance. And with that kind of encouragement, how could I say no? Thing was, when I was done, my drawing wasn’t half bad. And new options for my art and art journaling opened up.

The Pursuing Portraits class came at a good and bad time for me last year. I was working very intensely in my day job, but because I was also located away from home, I had a lot of time to focus on my art when I wasn’t at work. And Pam and the group of participants became my new friends. Some Friday evenings when I was too tired to do much else, the virtual Pam would keep me company and encourage me to draw a face using her face map. And I could! I wanted to use more faces in my journal work, and with Pam’s ideas and prompting, I discovered new ways add them and my drawing got better through practice.

I still envy Pam the easiness with which she picks up a pencil and dashes out just a lovely face but I know that if I put the time into the work as she has, I could be doing the same thing. And I know this because of how much I’ve improved over the past two years. I purchased the videos of the class because for me, I need to see something over and over again and because of my schedule, I knew I would not always be able to do that during the scheduled class time. I still need Pam talking me through some of the places I where I struggle, and knowing that I can always return to the videos for reminders helps me be bold and try new things.

People come to this class for different reasons, and get out of it what they put in. I was not able to do as much during the class as I wanted due to job constraints on my time, but with the DVDs, I’m able to attend what I call my remedial class, so I can get the time in that my fellow travelers did while we worked together. I’m better than I used to be, and not as good as I want to be. But two years ago, I did not think I could draw a portrait. And now I can. – here it is now, she says hopefully: http://krisatlarge.wordpress.com

work of Judy Miller-Check

I’d tell the new S.P.P. students to practice, practice, practice. I’ve borrowed sketching books, bought books, clipped good faces from magazines, and studied features on TV. I “reused” several of my portraits in a piece which will be published in fall. Thank You, Pam, and all of you wonderful artists in this group.

work of Anne O’Connor

I like the way you present material in a step-by-step format that makes it possible for anyone to draw a face! You are a wonderful teacher – thanks.

work of Leslie Van Der Heide

Here is a picture of one I did in your class. I never dared to draw a face. I did’nt know how or where to start. I fished the internet for a good course. I found Pam’s video and decided to sign up.

The second picture is one I drew a few days ago. I am still learning and just love it.

I liked how Pam introduces other materials to use for colour.

And because it happens to all of us, this shows the growth from before viewing the video lessons in class

I took my first class with Pam through Strathmore workshops. I was thrilled to take her Portrait class through Artful Gathering. The group experience was fun and memorable…enough that a facebook group (About Face) developed as a result. I felt as if Pam were sitting with me in my studio. I typically draw with ink then go right for the paints. I never sketch with pencil. I surprised myself that I could achieve this with a pencil and a blending stump. Pam’s “face mapping” is ingenious and the structure of what I learned has definately transferred to painting portraits for me. If you want to know what face mapping is you’ll have to take the class. Visit my blog to see my recent portraits with acrylic. http://darlene-freeniebelle.blogspot.com/

Registration Ends This Thursday for A Cut Above!!! Don’t delay in signing up for the class(es) of your choice because once registration closes (June 20th) the opportunity ends. I’m offering an optional DVD of both of these workshops that can only be purchased inside of the classroom at a nominal fee. This allows for those who may not have the time to do the class while it’s live, to do it at their own pace or for those who want to have unending access to the videos to revisit the workshop whenever they like.

The neat thing about the Artful Gathering Online Art Retreat is that you can take as many classes at a time as you like-just like a live retreat! There are many wonderful instructors to choose from and a wide variety of techniques to learn.

I hope you’ll consider joining me for one or both of the only online classes I’m offering this year!!

My only Online Workshops of the year start tomorrow!!! Don’t delay in signing up for the class(es) of your choice because once registration closes (June 20th) the opportunity ends. I’m offering an optional DVD of both of these workshops that can only be purchased inside of the classroom at a nominal fee. This allows for those who may not have the time to do the class while it’s live, to do it at their own pace or for those who want to have unending access to the videos to revisit the workshop whenever they like.

The neat thing about this Online Art Retreat is that you can take as many classes at a time as you like-just like a live retreat! There are many wonderful instructors to choose from and a wide variety of techniques to learn.

I hope you’ll consider joining me for one or both of the only online classes i’m offering this year!!

I was playing with my PanPastels the other day when someone commented that they were glad to see ‘PamPastels’ again lol. So I decided to give them a go with one of my Face Map stencils from Stencil Girl Products and get a little more video editing practice on my iMac. I shot this video at my worktable using the camera on the mac. This is not the way I shoot video for classes, I have a whole other set up for that, but it does make it easy to shoot a short video for youtube!

This is the finished piece of art, done on 9 x 12 watercolor paper that was prepped with a coat of gesso. It took less than 30 minutes total to create and with no dry time, save the two coats of pastel fixative at the end, it was easy to make with very few tools and no mess.

THANK YOU TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS PRE-ORDER. IT HAS NOW OFFICIALLY ENDED AND I WILL BEGIN PROCESSING ORDERS TO BE SHIPPED BETWEEN THE 25TH AND 30TH OF THIS MONTH. IF YOU MISSED THE PRE-ORDER YOU WILL STILL BE ABLE TO PURCHASE THE DVD AT IT’S REGULAR PRICE, MINUS THE AUTOGRAPH, DIRECTLY FROM THE MANUFACTURER AT A LATER DATE.

Welcome 2013! I hope all of you had a peaceful entry into the New Year!

To kick things off I’m happy to announce that Pursuing Portraits will now be offered in a DVD format! This class will no longer be taught online and because of the many requests for it I’ve decided to now offer it as a DVD with a Pre-buy sale! For the next 3 Days-ending at 12:00pm on Friday, January 4th,(this cutoff date is firm so if you miss it you will have to wait until the pre-order is completed and order later) you can purchase a SIGNED DVD at a $13.00 discount!

The Pre-Order cost is $27.oo plus $5.00 US Shipping or 10.00 International Shipping

Pursuing Portaits 6 video Lessons

Journal your way to a self portrait that reflects your true self. During this 6 lesson course you will work in the comfort and safety of your own Art Journal. This will be an exploration of our own self and the face that we see in the mirror each morning as we dig deep to find what lies behind the face that we show to the world. Your face may not even look like you, but it will be representative of the inner you. I will show you the techniques I use in my mixed media portraits and guide you towards creating a face that is uniquely yours.

This workshop is intended to be a starting place for those wanting to pursue the art of drawing faces. I say ‘pursue’ because that’s exactly what I’ve found it to be. You can draw a face every day and not have them look alike. Portraits are a great way to watch your growth as an artist. Since the time I created this workshop my work has evolved a lot, but the basic techniques I teach here are still the same. This is a great starting place on a journey that never ends and I’m excited to be offering this retired workshop as a DVD.

Over 2 hours of video instruction

DVD’s will be shipped out between the 25th and 30th of this month. It will be available unsigned, directly from the manufacturer at the full price of $40.00
Week 1~Facing the Facts

Sketching basics, learning how to draw a face and where everything is supposed to go.

Week 2~Who Am I?

Backgrounds that speak of you

Week 3~Take a Look in the Mirror

Learning how to make it your face

Week 4~Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin

Learn the painting and shading techniques that I use in my portraits

Week 5~It’s the Little Things That Matter Most

All the details that bring your face to life

Week 6~Shout Out Loud or whisper really soft

Using your portrait to express your voice

I’ve offered these classes in various ways and always through other online venues, but by now offering them as DVD’s will allow me to re-run workshops that people may have missed or for those who would like to have the videos available to refer back to as often as they like. I will only offer a class as a DVD after I’ve decided not to open it for online teaching anymore. Please remember that as I set my price point for each DVD many things are taken into consideration and while I want to keep things affordable I also need to respect those who have previously paid to take the workshop in it’s online format. Because there are no handouts, or instructor involvement as in a workshop, the price will reflect that. The video’s will occasionally refer to “links on the site” or “PDF downloads” etc, and these pertained to the online workshop as it was originally taught. There are no downloads that come with the DVD and you can easily find the supplies used by simply googling the name, most often dickblick.com or jerrysartarama.com will carry them.

All DVD’s are professionally manufactured by a company. The DVD’s come in a Traditional DVD case with the insert as pictured below. The DVD’s themselves have graphics on them as well and each set has an insert in the case with additional information for the class.

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about.me

Creating Art at the Speed of Life

Pam Carriker is an artist, instructor, author of books ART AT THE SPEED OF LIFE and CREATING ART AT THE SPEED OF LIFE, and is a columnist for Somerset Art Journaling. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, she now resides in the Dallas/Fort Worth Texas area with her husband and her youngest son while her two oldest boys serve in the Army and National Guard. Traveling to teach around the country is something she enjoys very much as sharing the satisfaction that comes from creating art is a her passion. Pam’s work and writing can be found in over than 50 publications and she serves as a Directors Circle Artist for Stampington & Co®. She has created instructional Art Journaling videos for Strathmore® Artist Papers line of Visual Journals, as well as designed a line of stencils for StencilGirl® rubber art stamps for Stampington & Co® and continues to develop her line of signature mixed-media products for Derivan® Matisse. Turning her ‘hobby’ into her dream job has been the culmination of a life-long pursuit of living a creative life and she firmly believes it is never too late to begin living Art at the Speed of Life!

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